Pressing machine and actuating mechanism therefor



E. DAVIS J1 1ne17, 1930.

PRESSING MACHINE AND ACTUATING MECHANISM THEREFOR ori inal Filed July 11, 1927 I N VEN TOR.

A TTORNEYS,

Patented June "1.7, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT v ERNEST DAVIS, F SYEACUSE, NEW YORK,

OFFICE ASSIGNOR TO THE PROSPERITY COMPANY INC., OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK PRESSING MACHINE AND ACTUA'IING MECHANISM THEREFOR Application filed July 11, 1927, Serial No. 204,694. Renewed November 7, 1929.

This invention relates to pressing machines such as garment and laundry or ironing presses andhas for its object, a particularly simple and compact arrangement of the pow 3 er actuating mechanism relatively to the pressing elements.

A further object is to produce a garment or ironing press having coacting jaws, such as a press head and buck, between which thework is placed for drying and finishing and wherein a new operating mechanism is eniployed to swingthe head-open and closed and wherein the press head. undergoes a compound motion by swinging laterally'and vertically in relationto'thebuck.

The invention consists in the novel fea--.

tures and in the combinations and constructions hereinafter setforth and claimed.

In describing this; invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which like characters designate corresponding parts in all the views. I

Figure 1 is a sid elevation, partly in section, of a preferabl, mbodilnent of this actuating mechanism in a'pressing machine.

Figure 2 is a fragmentaryplanvi'ew, parts being omitted. 1 k

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the manual control for the actuating mechaso nism.

I have here illustrated my invention as applied to a pressing machine having a stationary buck and a head movable toward and from the buck.

1 designatesthe buck and 2 the head, these press jaws being of any suitable form, size and construction. 3 designates a pressure chamber which is mounted upon a suitable frame 4 and the buck 1- is mounted on a bracket 5 which in turnis mounted upon the stationary pressure chamber 3 so that the pressure chamber is located below the buck in a line therewith and forms a table on which the buck is mounted.

.45 A pressure member in the illustrated embodiment of my invention comprises a diaphragm 6-dividing the pressure chamber into upper and lower compartments and a plunger head 7 below and in engagement with the dia- B0 phragm, the plunger 7 having a stem 8 exleased.

tending downwardly through the lower wall of thechamber. he motion transmitting connections between the pressure member and the movable pressing element comprises a single floating major part or link having no connection with the frame whereby the power is applied directly to the movable element or head. The direct motion transmitting means between the pressure member and the head in the illustrated embodiment of my invention consists'of a single swing link or upright 9 in the general form of a letter C in side elevation, the lower arm of the C-shaped part being pivoted '-at 10- to the lower end of the plunger stem 8 and the upper arm thereof elng connected in any suitable manner to the head 2. The upper portion of the link is bifurcated as seen Figure 2 and the branches thereofconnected at spaced apart points to the head.

Counterbalancing means as a spring 11 actson the link to prevent it from dropping down too far rearwardly and also to tend to swing the lever forwardly and aid in overcoming the inertia when the link is swung from its dotted line position, Figure 1 to its full line position. The head 2 is provided with a handle 12 by means of which it is initially moved on its pivot '10 from the dotted line to the full line position, Figure 1, where it is opplosed to the buck 1. The upper portion of the c fluid as water or oil. It is connected by a pipe 13 to a reservoir 14 which supplies the'water or oil. to theupper compartment of the chamber 3, this reservoir being so arranged that the fluid in the chamber 3 will atall times fill the upper compartment of the chamber 3. A compression spring 15 is interposed between the plunger head 7 of the pressure 80 amher 3 is preferably filled with a hydraulic stem or member and the bottom wall of the chamber 3 and tends to move the pressure member 7-8 upwardly to expel the oil from the upper compartment thereof when the pressure on-tlie fluid in the reservoir 14 is re- The means for supplying the pressure to the reservoir 1-! is preferably compressed air controlled by a manually operated valve. 16 designates the feed pipe for the compressed air which is connected to any suitable source of supply. 17 is a valve casing having a twoway valve therein, this valve being here shown as an intake valve head 18 and-an exhaust valve head 19, these valve heads being connected by a stem 20 so that they act as a unit and being normally arranged so that the intake valve head 18 is closed and the exhaust valve head 19 open. The valves are moved to their normal positions by a sprin 21 and by the air pressure. K

The two-way valve 17 is manually operated by any suitable mechanism here shown as a push button 22 which coacts with a lever 23 pivoted at 24 and coacting with a stem 25 of the exhaust valve head through an intermediate lever 26. The purpose of which will be resentlydescribed.

bviously, upon depressing of the button 22, the intake valve head 18 will be opened and the exhaust valve head closed so that the air is free to pass through the vvalve casing through a pipe 27 to the upper end of the reservoir 14, this pi e 27 leading from the valve casing 17 from between the valve heads 18 and 19, and when the air pressure is applied to the reservoir, the oil will be forced therefrom throu h the pipe 13 to the pressure chamber 3 a ove the diaphragmfi and actuate the diaphragm and hence, close the head 2down on the buck 1, providing the operator has first moved the head from its dotted line position Figure 1 to its full line position by pulling forwardly on the handle 12. i

The manual control mechanism includes means for holding the valve heads 18 and 19 in their operated position, this means being here shown as a diaphragm chamber 28 having a diaphragm 29 therein, the chamber being connected at one side of the diaphragm by a passage 30 to the valve casing 17 between the valve heads 18, 19. The diaphragm 29 acts on a-stem 29 which in turn acts upon the lever'26. Thus, after the button 22 has been depressed, the air will also pass from the valve casing 17 through the passage 30 to the diaphragm chamber actuating the diaphragm 29 to holdthe lever 26 and hence, the valves 18, 19 in their operated position. To open the press or release the pressure in the pressure chamber 3 and permit the spring 15 to react, the air is exhausted from the pressure side'of the diaphragm chamber 28 by means of a normally closed exhaust valve 31 held against its seat by a spring 32, this exhaust valve being located in. a casing 33 which is connected by a pipe 34 to the pressure side of the diaphragm chamber 28. The exhaust valve 31 is actuated by a suitable handle lever 35.

When the handle 35 is operated obviously, the air will be exhausted from the diaphragm chamber 28 permitting the air pressure to close the intake valve head 18 and open the exhaust valve head 19 whereby" the air within the reservoir 14: can exhaust back through the pipe 27 out through the valve casing 20 and through the exhaust opening 36 into atmosphere. The control mechanism which forms no part of this invention and is carried by a suitable bracket 38 mounted in any convenient position on the frame 4.

Complete operation of. the machine briefly is as follows. i- Assuming the parts are in the position indicated in dotted lines, Fi re 1, the operator after placing the article to be pressed on the buck 1, takes hold the handle 12 and pulls forwardly swinging "the upri ht link 9 about its pivot 10, the spring 11 tending to urge the link forwardly and thus tending to overcome the inertia of the link and head 2. While retaining his hold on the handle 12, the operator depresses the button 22 permitting the air pressure to enter the reservoir 14 and force the hydraulic fluid into the upper portion of the chamber?) above the diaphragm 6 thus moving the link 9 rectilinearly downwardly and clamping the head 2 on the buck 1. When the pressure has been held as long as desired, the operator actuates the lever 35 to release the pressure in the reservoir 14 and permitting the spring 15 to react to open the press, the link 9 swinging rearwardly after the head 2 is moved upwardly awa from the buck 1 into the full line position, igure 1 and the spring 11 acting as a buffer when the link 9 swings to its rearmost position.

What I claim is: 1

1. In a garment or ironing press, a frame and coactin jaws carried thereon, operating mechanism for opening and closing the press including a diaphragm chamber made in the, frame under the buck, a flexible diaphragm in the chamber, said chamber being formed of adjacent frame parts secured together with the diaphragm therebetween, motive fluidt supply means including a control valve therefor connected to-thejphamber, an upright attached to one of the jaws and reaching downwardly and curvedinto the frame, and means 9 o eratively connecting the upright to the diap ragm.

2. In a garment or ironing press, a frame and coacting jaws carried thereon, operating mechanism for opening andclosing the press including a chamber made the frame under the buck, motor means in the chamber, an upright operatively connected with the motor means and having its upper end secured to one of the jaws, a rod disposed horizontally in the frame and having its front end pivotally connected to the frame and its rear end slidably disposed thru the lower portion of the upright, and a spring confined on the rod and being compressible to counterbalance the upright.

3. A pressing machine comprising a buck, a head, means for moving the head toward and from the buck comprising a pressure chamber, a movable pressure member therein, motion transmitting means between one side of the pressure member and the head, means for supplying fluid pressure to the other side of the pressure member, the pressure'chamber being located below the buck and the buck being mounted on the pressure chamber, and the motion transmitting means including a link in the form of a C in side elevation, the lower arm of which is extended under the pressure chamber and connected to the pressure member below the pressure chamber and the upper arm of which is connected-to the head.

1. A pressing machine comprising a buck, a head, means for moving the head toward and from the buck comprising a pressure cham her, a movable pressure member therein, motion transmitting means between one side of the pressure member and the head, means for supplying fluid pressure to the other side of the pressure member, the pressure chamber being located below the buck, the buck being mounted on the pressure chamber and the motion transmitting means including a link in the form of a0 in side elevation having a lower arm which is extended under the pressure chamber and pivoted to the pressure member and having an upper arm which is extended over and connected to the head.

5. A pressing machine comprising a buck, a head, a diaphragm chamber arranged below the buck, a pressure member including a diaphragn'i in said chamber, the pressure memher having a plunger stem extending downwardly through the pressure chamber, a link in the general form of a C in side elevation pivoted at its lower end to the stem and connected at its upper end to the head, and means for applying fluid pressure to the upper side of the. diaphragm.

6. A pressing machine comprising a frame, a pressure chamber carried by the frame, a buck mounted 011 the pressure chamber, a head movable toward and from the buck,=a pressure member movable in the chamber and having a stem extending downwardly to the outside of the pressure chamber, a link in the general form of a C in side elevation pivoted at its lower end to said stem and connected at its upper end to the head, and means for supplying fluid pressure to the upper portion of the pressure chamber above the pressure member.

7 A pressing machine comprising a buck, a head, means for moving the head toward and from the buck comprising a pressure chamber, a movable pressure member therein, motion transmitting means between one side of the pressure member and the head, means for supplying fluid pressure to the other side of the pressure member, the pressure chamber being located below the buck, the motion transmittil'ig means including a link in the form of a C in side elevation, the lowerarm of which extends below the pressure chamber and is connected to the pressure member'and the upper arm of which" is connected to the head, and a spring tending to swing the upper end of the link forwardly.

8. A pressing machine com rising a frame, a pressure chamber carried y the frame, a buck mounted on the pressure chamber, a head, a pressure member movable in the chamber and having a stemextending downwardly to the outside of the pressure chamber, a lever in the general form of a C in side elevation pivoted at its lower end to said stem and connected at its upper end to the head, means for supplying fluid pressure to the upper portion of the pressure chamber above the pressure member, and counterbalancing means connected to the link tending to swing forwardly the upper end of the link which carries the head.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name, at Syracuse, in the county of Onandaga, and in the State or New York, this 6th day of July, 192".

ERNEST DAVIS. 

